Flight of the Condor
by Michael2
Summary: An officer kills another officer in an attempt to cover up his drug dealing. How will Kirk and co. react? Based on a screenplay by Harlan Ellison
1. Chapter 1

The Jewels of Sound beckon to Luc LeBeque like blood in the seas beckons to sharks. It is a strong craving, stronger than any that he desired in his life. He takes a white crystalline rock from a sack and puts it in his mouth.

_My last one, _he thinks. _I got to see Rich after I get off my shift. _

For a brief moment, he wonders if he should have waited until just getting off his shift to consume the drug. But it is like a monkey on his back. He had to have it. And he had to have the Jewels now.

He looks at a clock. His shift starts in five minutes. He leaves his quarters, walking along the corridors of the _Enterprise_, reaching the turbolift.

"Bridge, please," he says.

The lift moves and the doors open. Soon he enters a elliptical chamber. Officers and crewmen sit at various consoles, watching the readouts. The viewscreen shows the emptiness of space.

He feels a little giddish. He had worked hard to finally get a bridge shift. It was hard enough trying to get an assignment on the Enterprise, rather than some frigate tasked with rescuing starships in peril or fighting smugglers and pirates. Not that those were bad or worthless assignments; there was just prestige in being a part of a five-year mission to explore the final frontier. And now he is in the second year of that mission, and just promoted to lieutenant junior grade.

He sees the officer in charge of the bridge, a dark-haired man with pale skin and pointed ears.

"Lieutenat LeBeque, here to relieve Ensign Chekhov and start my shift, sir," he says in his Cajun drawl, a bit nervously.

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant," answers Commander Spock. "Ensign Chekhov is relieved."

"Aye, sir," replies a young man with light colored hair. He leaves the bridge, and LeBeque sits at his station.

_Okay, LeBeque. You trained for this. Even though you're under the influence of the Jewels, you can do this! _

He looks at the readouts on his console, seeing the statuses of various parts of the ship. The young lieutenant focuses intensely. The Jewels play a melody in his head. Time seems to blur.

"LeBeque!" barks Spock. "That starboard unit is running in the red! Dampen it!"

"Y-yes, sir," replies LeBeque, and he immediately presses some buttons.

"Bridge to engineering," says Spock. "Is everything okay down there?"

"There aren't any alarms going off, if that's what ya mean," says Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, his Scottish accented voice heard over the speaker on the bridge.

"Make sure to double check everything," replies Spock. He then turns towards Lieutenant LeBeque. "Your performance risked major damage to the ship, and may even have endangered the crew. You are dismissed."

LeBeque looks down, just coming out of his high. He can only feel shame as he leaves the bridge.

Oooooooo

LeBeque walks to the officers' quarters. He had an hour to ponder the recent events aboard the bridge. He presses a button next to one of the doors.

"It's me, Luc,' he says.

"Come on in," says a male voice.

Luc walks in. the room is the typical quarters for a junior officer, which is basically a small bedroom with a bed and a desk. Several objects sit on top of the desk. Sitting at the desk is a man with brown hair. He turns, revealing a face with a thin moustache. His uniform markings indicate that he is a Starfleet lieutenant.

"Luc," says the man. "I have 'bout fifteen minutes 'till I start my shift. Ya need more Jewels?"

"No, Rich," replies Luc. "Not anymore."

"Seems strange that ya would come all the way here just to tell me that."

"Rich, I was on the Jewels when I ran a starboard unit into the red. I nearly destroyed the ship."

"Ya were on the Jewels during bridge duty? Are ya bloody crazy?"

"I'm hooked. But it has to stop. I..I'm turning meself in."

Rich's eyes widen. He then relaxes and smiles. "Listen, mate. Nobody knows yer on the stuff. Ya gotta be more careful. Don't use it until after yer shift's over."

"I was so hooked that I used it right before my shift started. I need help. I have to turn meself in."

"Are ya crazy, Luc? Ya do that, and they throw yer arse in the brig for the rest of the five year mission, and then they'll throw ya into another brig for another five years. Is that what ya want, mate?"

"It's…it's right. No matter what the captain will do to me."

"And what about me, Luc?" asks Rich. If ya turn yerself in, they're gonna bloody wonder who yer bloody supplier is. And this is a ship, not a bloomin' starbase. There aren't too many blokes on board they would suspect."

"It's not about you, Rich. I almost killed everyone on board. Ya think I can live with that?"

Luc turns around and walks out. Rich takes a large jade stone that had been sitting on his desk. He walks out.

"Stop!" yells Rich, feeling desperate. "Ya can't do this to me!"

Desperation turns into action. Rich runs after Luc and smashes his head with the jade stone.

Rich looks down, seeing Luc lying still on the floor, bleeding from his head. He sees two other people in the corridor, looking in shook.

A phaser beam hits him and he goes down.

A security guard in a red uniform walks to the fallen lieutenants.

"Security to sick bay," he says in a gravelly voice. "We have a man down. He's hurt pretty bad. We need a site-to-site transport.

"Copy," says a female voice.

"This is the transporter room, we have a lock," hears the security guard. He looks down and sees Lieutenant LeBeque being beamed away.

An instant later, the injured lieutenant materializes on the emergency table. Dr. Leonard McCoy, chief medical officer of the _Enterprise_, takes one look.

"He's hurt very bad," says the doctor. "We gotta get to work."

He and two others, Dr. Jabilo M'benga and Nurse Christine Chapel, work to save the man's life administering shots and proving extra oxygen. Various instruments read out the young lieutenant's failing life signs.

But it is to no avail. Lieutenant Luc LeBeque dies.


	2. Chapter 2

_Captain's Log. The unthinkable happened. There was a murder aboard the _Enterprise_. Lieutenant Luc LeBeque was bludgeoned and he died early this evening, despite the best efforts of Dr. McCoy. Lieutenant Richard Beckwith was apprehended by security and is currently in custody in the brig. Per Starfleet regulation, I reported the crime to the Office of Criminal Investigations. Security has secured the crime scene, as well as the quarters of Lieutenants Beckwith and LeBeque. _

Captain James Kirk sits in his quarters, which was basically a large hotel suite. He had read the reports from security concerning the murder.

"it's Bones," says a voice.

"Do you have anything?" the captain asks Dr. McCoy.

"I preserved the body so the OCI people could look at it when they get here. I did manage to do a test on Mr. LeBeque's blood. "

"And?"

"There are traces of the Jewels of Sound in his system. It seems to be…"

"An illegal drug, refined from Denobulan cough syrup. Addictive to humans."

"You know your stuff, Jim."

"Well, I sort of assimilated the info from the crowd I used to hang with."

"There was nothing we can do. Not even cordrazine worked."

Kirk sees a blinking light of the communications console. "I got another message, Bones."

"Understood."

"This is Captain Hao from Starbase 40," says a voice.

"Captain Kirk from the _Enterprise_."

"Captain, the OCI team is scheduled to board your ship at 1200 tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Where do we rendezvous?"

"Just stay in whatever star system you're in. They'll beam over."

"I forgot we could do that."

"It's a hassle to do so. But this sort of situation calls for it."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"_Enterprise_ out."

Kirk makes one more call to security to confirm that Beckwith is still in custody, and then goes to sleep.

Oooooooooo

"Lieutenant Beckwith, here's your breakfast, sir."

Beckwith looks and sees a crewman in red push a tray with food through a slot in the forcefield of his cell. Behind the crewman is another man in as red uniform. He has blue skin and antennae, and his rank insignia identify him as a petty officer. He carries a phaser rifle.

"Nice phaser rifle ya got there, mate," says the prisoner trying to make friendly conversation.

"The better to shoot you with if you get out of line," replies the Andorian. "Better hope my thumb does not slip and places it into kill instead of stun, sir."

The crewman walks away, while the petty officer sits at a desk in the front of the cell block. Beckwith quietly eats his breakfast. He feels horror at what he had done yesterday. He can still feel himself swinging that stone. He remembers the sight of Luc LeBeque's skull caved in, the blood coming out of his head. And he begins to feel shame. Luc was a friend; on more than one occasion, he even provided him Jewels of Sound without asking for any favors in return.

_He was gonna betray me. I had to kill him or else he woulda blown my cover. Except…_

So many confused feelings flow through his mind.

Ooooooooooo

"Captain on the bridge!" announces a lieutenant.

Captain Kirk and Commander Spock enter the bridge, taking in the familiar sights. The morning shift is here, bright and eager to work. And yet, their faces indicate some knowledge of recent events.

"Good morning," says Kirk. "Many of you have heard of the tragic event that happened last night. In three hours, a team of OCI investigators will beam aboard this ship. Your full cooperation is, of course, ordered. However, we are still on a mission to explore strange new worlds, and to seek out new life and new civilizations. Where are we now?"

"Currently, we are orbiting about five thousand klicks from the red giant," says the helmsman, a young man with black hair.

"Thank you, Mr. Sulu," replies the captain. "Any suggestions for a destination within this star system."

"There is a planet with energy readings that stand out from the other planets," says a petty officer who is clad in a yellow uniform.

"Lieutenant Sulu, if you can set course for that planet at Warp Factor 1," says Kirk.

"Yes, sir," replies Sulu as he starts pressing buttons on his console.

Within three hours, the preliminary scan of the planet in question had been finished. There had been some interference with the enterprise's scanners, but they did find that the crew could explore the surface of the planet without space suits. Already, Captain Kirk is working on plans for a surface survey mission.

The communications console on the desk in his ready room beeps. "Kirk here," she says.

"Captain Hao from Starbase 40 is on the line," says Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, an officer who works in communications.

"Patch him through."

"Captain Kirk," says Captain Hao. "the OCI team is ready to beam aboard your ship."

"I'll greet them in the transporter room," says Kirk.

"There is one problem. We can not lock on to your transporter pad. As you know, it's not safe to beam this far without a lock on a transporter pad."

"Yeah, we don't want the OCI people to end up in our coolant pipes."

"What? Anyway, are your transporters working? Our transporters are working, and you shouldn't be too far away from us. The problem may be on your end."

Kirk presses a button on the console. "Transporter room, the transporters working fine?"

"As far as I can tell, yes," replies the transport technician. "Board is all green. Not a single red light."

"Wait," says Kirk. He presses a button to speak with Hao. "The energy readings from the planet. They must cause interference with locking on to us. Listen, we'll move the ship. Maybe you can lock on to us then. Give us, say, fifteen minutes."

"Copy, _Enterprise_," replies Hao.

Kirk walks back out into the bridge. "Mr. Sulu," he says. "Take us out of orbit and set course for an orbit around the edge of this star system."

"Yes, sir," replies Sulu as he oppresses buttons on his console. The bridge crew hears a humming sound.

And it stops.

"What happened?" asks Kirk.

"I see a bunch of red lights," says Sulu.

"Captain," says another officer, "I see reports of power outages."

Ooooooo

Lieutenant Richard Beckwith is enveloped in darkness. He sees an opportunity and without giving further thought, takes immediate action. Soon the cell block is bathed in red, with its emergency power supply kicking in.

The Andorian guarding the cell block sees Beckwith outside his cell and begins to raise his phaser rifle. But he did not react fast enough, as the human knocks him down and flees.

Oooooo

"This is security to the bridge!" yells a male voice. "We report a brig break. It's Beckwith!"

"Shit!" yells Kirk. "Lock down the ship! Isolate all sections!"

"Yes, sir!"

Oooooooo

Beckwith hears the alarms. He knows that he is being hunted. He has to hide somewhere.

He goes into a room, and sees a control console, and a platform. It is the transporter room. He does not even spare a nanosecond to wonder why security procedures do not call for immediate lockdown of transporters upon a brig break. He is running on automatic.

He knocks out the transport technician, and activates the console to beam down to the planet. He steps on the pad. He energizes. For a brief moment, he wonders if this will be his last mistake in this Universe.

Oooooooo

Captain Kirk and Commander Spock enter the transporter room. Just ten minutes ago, they expected to be greeting the OCI team who would investigate the LeBeque murder. Now they are here to get the prime suspect back.

"Progress?' asks the captain.

"We are tracking him," says Chief Petty Officer Nils Pitcairn. "But we can't get a clear lock on him. The planet's interfering, and Beckwith is moving around."

"Of course," says Spock. "He wants to minimize his chances of being captured."

"Come on, Chief," says Commander Scott. "Ye got to do this. We cannae let this bastard get away wit' murder."

Pitcairn looks at the screen, seeing the signal representing Beckwith.

Then it disappears.

"We lost him," replies the chief.

"Damn," says the captain.

"He must have entered an area of exceptionally high interference," says Spock.

"Then we must beam down to get him," says Kirk.

Oooooo

Less than ten minutes later, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and four other security guards are clad in helmets and flak vests, and bearing phaser rifles. They were a device on their left arms.

"Richard Beckwith escaped from the brig and beamed down to the planet below," says the captain. "We will beam down to his last known location. We must presume that he is still running, and that he is armed and dangerous. Note that we are all wearing transport beacons; interference from the planet makes it difficult to lock on, these should help. In addition, a shuttle is on standby in case it does not work. Dr. McCoy will be the medic."

"I hope I've nothing to do down there," says the doctor. "I'm a doctor, not a bounty hunter."

"You heard the captain," says Lieutenant Hendorff, the chief security officer. "We move out."

They all step onto the pad. Chief Pitcairn presses a few buttons and pushes a lever. They are all energized.

Oooooooo

The first thing the away team notices is that their immediate surroundings are barren. No plant visibly grows. No animals scurry about, not even a mouse. Rock and more rock is all that is here.

"it does not look like any human can live off the land here," says Dr. McCoy.

"Beckwith!" yells Kirk. "Come back here. You are on an unknown alien world with no known sources of food. It is best if you surrender now!"

There is no response.

They start marching through the barren landscape. Not a single lifeform seems to be detected, not even with the tricorders- which relieves some members of the landing party, as they would have enough trouble dealing with Richard Beckwith without having to wire about more potentially hostile life-forms.

"Interference is limiting our tricorder range to twenty meters," says Spock.

For about ten more minutes, the team trudges through more barren landscape. Then they see a change of scenery.

It is not a prairie.

It is not a forest- of trees, at least.

Broken stone pillars and pieces of stone walls, with openings for windows, stand from the ground. It is ruins of some sort. This had been a city at one time.

"We'll have to send an archaeological team here after we finish with Beckwith," says Kirk.

"So noted," replies Spock.

Lieutenant Hendorff is worried. These ruins would provide cover for Lieutenant Beckwith to shoot them.

Then again, it would provide him and his people with cover to stun Beckwith.

"Beckwith!" yells Kirk. "Surrender and you will not be harmed."

"Your refusal to surrender is illogical," says Spock. "There is no food anywhere. If you stay, you will starve to death."

There is no response, not surprisingly.

"I see something," says McCoy.

The rest of them see it too. There is a circular structure, with broken columns nearby.

What draws their attention is what appears _inside_ the structure.

There are a wide variety of images playing. They are all awed that this apparently ancient and abandoned piece of technology still works. Images flash.

_What looks like a marketplace being patronized by insectoid people._

_A star being born._

_A star shining more that it ever did, in its final moments of stellar life._

_A rocket flying into space._

_A titanic, cube-shaped starship apparently and easily winning a battle against numerous smaller starships. _

"Okay," says Kirk. "Stay behind and cover us. Spock and I will move closer to this thing."

"Yes, sir," replies Hendorff.

Kirk and Spock move closer, glancing at the images appearing inside that thing.

Suddenly, someone runs towards it. It takes a moment for Kirk to realize whom it is.

"Beckwith!" he yells.

But Beckwith jumps through that thing. Kirk starts to follow…

…and then, the sky ripples, like someone shaking an aluminum screen. Kirk and Spock look back towards McCoy, Hendorff, and the others. They are enveloped in some sort of ripple…

…and they disappear. The two Starfleet officers race to where they were. But they do not find a trace, not even a footprint.

"What the?" asks Kirk. He flips one his communicator. "Kirk to _Enterprise_. Bones, Hendorff, and the others have just vanished. Please confirm if you transported them."

There is no response.

"Spock to _Enterprise_," says Spock. "Please confirm your status."

No answer.

"I don't need to tell you that something's..," begins Kirk before he notices he is being transported. He notices that the energy looks different.

And then he and Spock are inside a room. They both see a control console.

They can see _it_ is a transporter room, but not _the_ one.

The transporter operators aim sidearms at them, and the Starfleet officer aims their phaser rifles.

"We don't know who you are, where you are, or why you beamed us here," says Kirk. "But if you beam us back where you found us, we can go our separate ways and not have to worry about each other."

"It is the logical choice," says Spock. "We have no business with you. Beam us back, and we will cause you no more troub…"

The transport energy envelopes them. For a second tghey believe they get their wish.

Instead, they end up inside a large room. It is dimly lit weth flickering lights. There appears to be only one door.

"Any suggestions?" asks Kirk.

An image of a man appears. He appears to be human, with dreadlocks and skin the shade of rye toast. "What is your name?" asks the man.

"James Kirk," replies Kirk. "Captain of the Federation starship _Enterprise_.

"Commander Spock, second in command of the _Enterprise_," says Spock.

"Federation, eh?" asks the man. "Call me Captain Billy. Welcome to the _Condor_."

"Well, now that that is out of the way, please identify your purpose," says Kirk.

"Ah, but you two are prisoners aboard my ship," replies Billy. "You answer my questions. What were you doing on that planet?"

"We were hunting a fugitive," says Kirk. He murdered one of my crew and escaped to that planert. We tracked him to some ruins, where we, uh, lost track of him. It was then that we lost contact with the _Enterprise_. So we ask that you beam us back down do we may resume our hunt."

"And the Vulcan," says Billy. "Spock, is it? Are you in the Vulcan High Command?"

"I assure you, I am not," says Spock.

"I never knew Federation employed Vulcans. I am surprised that any Vulcan would work for Federation, when there are so many more lucrative job opportunities elsewhere."

"I had my reasons for joining Starfleet," says Spock.

"So that's what you Federation people call your fleet of ships."

"Yes, and right now, the _Enterprise _will be asking where their captain is," says Kirk. "And they are armed with torpedoes and phasers. Just either beam me down to the planet, or beam me back to our ship, and we will pretend we never met you."

"I only have one more question," says Billy.

"What?" asks Spock.

"Are you hungry?" asks the _Condor_ captain.

"We haven't had lunch," says Kirk.

A bright light appears onn the wall. It illuminates an alcove, and inside the alcove is food.

"That is a replicator," says Billy. "It makes food. We managed to get a sweet deal from a Ferengi trader."

Ooooooo

"They sure know how to keep prisoners," says Spock.

He and Kirk had eaten their lunches. They had tried to open the door to their cell. Not even firing their phaser rifles at full power could open the door.

They would normally expect the crew of the _Enterprise_ to rescue them, but they do not know if the _Enterprise_ was still there.

_We don't know if the _Enterprise_ ever was there_, thinks Kirk.

And they stay in the room for maybe four days, getting regular meals. It also helped that there was a toilet and sink in an alcove in the far corner, with soap readily available from the replicator. The _Condor's_ captain is surely a hospitable man.

The hologram of Captain Billy appears. "I have contacted Federation," he says.

"And?" asks Kirk.

"They say they will not pay a ransom," replies Billy.

"So this is a pirate ship," says Spock.

"You are perceptive, Vulcan. We had suspected that you were one of their agents. Many times we worried that they would send a fleet from their planet to hunt us down. Hunting pirates is their pastime, when they don't have bigger space fish to fry."

"What?" asks Spock, confused.

"You know, the Federation has a huge fleet of warships," says Kirk. "And they have divisions of MACO's. So you can either surrender unconditionally, or you can be reduced to your component subatomic particles."

"Don't toy with me, James," says Billy. "Can I call you James? I am knowledgeable in the ways of this part of the galaxy, and I know that Federation Star Shipping Services does not have a fleet of warships. They rely on Vulcan and Cardassian escorts to protect their freighters from little old pirates like us. And maybe if we captured one of their captains, they would pay the ransom. But they do not have any employees- let alone freighter captains- by your names, nor a freighter called the _Enterprise_."

Kirk's and Spock's facial expressions practically say, _You've got to be kidding!_

"You are not their problem, and soon you will not be _my_ problem either. Ever seen the sun rise? You will get to see the inside of the sun- for at least a microsecond."


	3. Chapter 3

Captain Kirk immediately fires around the room. The hologram of Captain Billy disappears. He is hearts race. He looks at the door, but it is useless. He knows that no matter where he goes, Captain Billy could beam him into the sun at any time.

Ooooooo

"They took out the camera," says a _Condor_ crewman. "We can't see inside the holding room."

"We still have a lock on them," says a transporter technician looking at the console.

"Energize," says Captain Billy.

"Yes, sir," answers the technician even as he pushes a lever. He looks at a small screen on the console. "Transport successful. They are now fifty miles beneath the surface of the sun."

"May they have a sunny day," remarks the pirate captain. He picks up a telephone handset, the cord connected to a telephone mounted on the wall. "Bridge, set a course for our home base."

"Aye aye, sir," replies a voice.

Oooooo

The two transport beacons disappear and end up inside the sun.

"Quick thinking, Spock," says Kirk, looking around and noticing that he is not inside a star.

"I figured if we turned up the volume on our beacons, their transporter will lock on to them instead of us."

"Yeah, but what's next? If they find out we're here, they'll try again and we don't have spare transport beacons."

"We have to improvise," replies the Vulcan. "Logic suggests if we can not plan, we can only improvise on the spot."

"Yeah, well, we'd better lay low and not draw any sort of attention," says the _Enterprise_ captain.

They wait, hoping that they do not get beamed into the sun. a few minutes later, they can feel a rumbling on the ship. It is soon followed by the thud.

"It seems we landed," says Spock.

The two Starfleet officers wait patiently. After a very long time the door opens and they see two pirates enter the room. They immediately fire their phaser rifles and then run along the corridors of the ship. They do not stop to examine their surroundings; their only goal is to get off the ship as soon as they can.

Passing through a narrow door, and they an open chamber, with a ramp leading outside. Several motorcycles are parked inside the huge room.

Kirk and Spock barely looks around before they start up the motorcycles and get out of the ship, with the pirates firing energy beams at them. Soon they are out in the nightscape…somewhere. They drive towards the lights of a city, the wind blowing in their faces.

Oooooooooo

"We're…sort of home," says Captain Kirk, parking the motorcycle next to the curb.

"We lost the pirates," adds Commander Spock.

They look around the street. The two of them had noticed that all the signs are written in English, street signs identify this particular street as Pine Avenue. Apparently, they are downtown somewhere, as the buildings rise above five stories or so high. There are plenty of people walking about, and other signs in the stores on this street glow in neon. Some of the stores are shuttered, while several bars and diners are open. Kirk and Spock approach one of the open businesses, called Cantina on Pine. A glowing neon sign reads, "Cardassian and Vulcanian money accepted".

"Look at this," says Spock, taking a piece of paper that he retrieved from a wastebasket on the sidewalk, holding it to a light so that Kirk could read it.

Kirk sees that it is a newspaper. In the light, he can see that the year is 2261.

"This is a city on Earth, right?" asks the _Enterprise_ captain. "Then why does it look like time was turned back one hundred fifty years?"

"Jim, is it your opinion that we are in an alternate reality?" asks Spock.

"Yeah, we are. We had better find out more. We'll have to wait 'till morning to find a library, but we might be able to learn more in there."

They walk towards the Cantina on Pine. A large, heavy, mean-looking man guards the entrance.

"I don't care if you're the police, gangsters, pirates, or bounty hunters," says the man, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt with the world SECURITY written on it. You don't bring those weapons in here."

"We can keep the helmets and body armor, right?" asks Kirk, smiling.

Music plays from a jukebox. Kirk notices that the crowd looks mean, as if they would fit in with the crew of that pirate ship. Some of them sit at the bar, others sit at tables, others play pool. The room itself has a faint smoky smell.

Spock's pointed ears hear snippets of conversation.

"I heard a lot of pirated alien loot was on sale at the market."

"The Gators aren't doing so well this season."

"I heard this Cardassian company's building a factory nearby. Aliens usually run factories in places like China or Ethiopia- never in any of the American republics."

"Yeah, probably because the Chinese labor is gettin' too expensive. "

"Are you gonna buy somethin'?"

Spock looks at a young, blond-haired woman sitting behind the bar, her low cut blouse showing her cleavage. "Were you talking to me?"

"Yeah, helmet head. This ain't no place for window shoppin'. Either buy something or make room for someone who will."

"Spock, you don't happen to have any Vulcanian change in your pockets?" asks Kirk.

"it is my opinion that we have learned as much as we can in this place," says Spock.

Ooooooooooo

The next morning, James Kirk climbs down a fire escape attached to a tall brick building, still feeling sore after a bad night's sleep, with having to sleep on a hard surface, and with the frequent noises of police sirens from the streets below.

"Become a starship captain, sleep on a rooftop on a building on an alternate reality Earth," he says, rubbing his neck.

"We did go where no man- from our reality at least- has gone before," says Spock. "That is part of our mission."

They took a look to gaze at their surroundings from the rooftop at dawn. They had seen a wide expanse of ocean in one direction. The downtown area was surrounded by a grid of streets- only some of them paved- lined with one-or-two story buildings that would not look out of place in a shantytown or a refugee camp. Beyond that was farmland, lined with dirt roads and the occasional asphalt road. In the far distance, in the direction opposite to that of the blue ocean, were tall mountains.

From the scenery, it looks as if Earth's post-atomic horror had continued for the next two centuries.

Signs posted on lampposts guided them to the nearest public library. As they walk around, they notice everything, from the buildings, to the vehicles, have this used look, as if the whole planet, or at least the city, was trashed and never fully cleaned up. It took them a few minutes to reach it. The concrete building is located at a T-intersection. Street signs mounted on traffic signal posts identified this as the corner of Pacific Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. The flag of the California Republic flies from a flagpole- but the flag above it has red, yellow, and blue, unfamiliar to either of the two men.

The inside is quiet, typical for a library. Many shelves hold books on various subjects. It is empty, save for a librarian reading a pocket-sized paperback book.

"Let's start studying Alternate History 101," says Kirk.

Oooooooooo

A few hours later, Kirk and Spock sit at a table. "I did learn this world's history," says Kirk, speaking quietly.

"What?' asks Spock.

The captain places a book on the wooden table titled "Earth in Space: Humanity in the Interstellar Era". "You remember Zefram Cochrane?" he asks.

"I am familiar with Earth's recent history," says Spock. "He made the first warp flight almost two hundred years ago."

"Not anymore. According to this book, it was some guy from China, about thirty years before Cochrane did, or would have, or should have." Kirk turns the pages back. "And look here, the Germans landed the first human on the moon, about fifty years before the first warp flight in this time."

"There's more, right?' asks Spock.

"The Federation…the United Federation of Planets, doesn't exist. There is no mention of it anywhere. There is something about a War of the Stars a hundred years ago, but no Federation. From what I could read from the books here, Earth is basically a giant shithole, like a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Especially in poorer nations like this one-it's called the West American States, by the way.

"No doubt the Federation would not allow space pirates to openly operate from Earth," says Spock. He takes out a small paperback book.

It is titled the Tourist's Guide to Vulcan- 5th Edition.

"It was published last year," says Spock. "I don't know how, but Vulcan is back. Vulcan still lives."

Kirk can see the emotional conflict in Spock's face, a conflict rooted three years before.

"If we can not get back to our reality, if we are stranded here, then we could make our way back to Vulcan. There are more opportunities there than here."

"Spock," says Kirk, "we have to get back to the _Enterprise_. Logic suggests that going back to that planet, where the _Condor_ found us, is the key to getting back. There is a crew of people waiting for us, wondering where we are." He hears his stomach growl. "But first we have to eat breakfast."

"Or lunch," says Spock, looking at a wall mounted analog clock reading quarter past noon.

"We're gonna need some money to buy food."

Ooooooooooo

After a long walk through the city sidewalks, Kirk and Spock finally reach the Free Market, located near the intersection of Fifth and Elm, according to a flyer they had seen earlier mounted on a lamppost. The crowd in the Free Market looks just as rough and mean as the crowd in the Cantina on Pine. Most of the people are dressed in what appear to be hand-me-downs. Traders hawk their wares in various booths. Many of the merchandise for sale are alien devices, far more advanced than what the humans of this part of Earth were capable of manufacturing. And yet, these alien devices look used, some with obvious wear-and-tear. A huge banner reading "No Warranties On Any Items" hangs between two posts.

"Bat'leths!" yells a roughly dressed man standing behind a booth. "Imported all the way from QonoS, home of the Klingons. The real thing!"

"We have two phaser rifles!" yells Kirk. "Great condition!"

"Jewels of Sound! On sale! Guaranteed to make you forget your troubles."

A shady-looking man walks to the starship captain. "I need to test your wares first. These are unloaded, right?"

"it would be logical to unload these for safety reasons," says Spock.

They walk towards an area marked as a firing range, where arms dealers test their weapons. Energy and kinetic weapons are tested on paper targets. The shady man fires the phaser rifle at the targets.

"I'll take it and the ammo," he says, after firing a few phaser beams and setting the paper targets on fire, smoke rising through the air.

"I wonder if these weapons sales are even legal here," says the Vulcan.

"Only if ya pay off the right people," says the arms dealer.

Minutes later, Kirk and Spock sit at a table in an area called the food truck court, obviously named for the food trucks parked in the area. Kirk eats bacon mac and cheese, while Spock eats French fried potatoes.

"Okay, let's talk," says Kirk. "In order to get to that planet, we need a warp spaceship. I guess we could join the crew of a spaceship, convince them to take us to that planet in exchange for working for them for a while. From what I read, Shanghai is still a pretty bustling place. If we can make our way there, apply for a job as a crewman…"

"They will likely require a background check, and it is unlikely that they will be able to contact our home reality for references," answers Spock. "Furthermore, we only know the general area of the galaxy where the planet was located; the only ship in this reality we know of that might still have the location of the planet is that _Condor_ pirate ship. "

"Considering that they beamed us into space, I kinda doubt they would be eager to hire us."

"Perhaps we could capture the ship. They are pirates, so capturing them and delivering them to the authorities would be logical."

"Assuming that this reality treats piracy the same as our reality."

"You were at my bar," says a female voice.

The two Starfleet officers look and see the bartender.

"Hello there," says Kirk. "Nice of you to join us."

"I'm here to do shoppin'," replies the woman. "Space smugglers often bring in sweet deals."

"And pirates," adds Spock.

"I don't go around asking where these sellers get their shit."

"We do want to get jobs as crewmen on a spaceship," says Kirk. "We're stranded with no money. We've experience working in interstellar starships."

"Well, the only ships operating out here are smugglin' and piratin' ships," she replies. "If ya want honest work, you could go to San Fran- that's four hundred miles north of here, on the coast. Or even cross the ocean to China or Australia- there's more lucrative work there. Of course, they also have stricter standards on hirin' people for their space ships."

"Is there any other line of work?" asks Spock. "Available here?"

"You could be a bounty hunter. Plenty o' alien pirates make this place their home base along with the human ones. Capture a pirate, hand them over to the Cardies or Vulks, make a lot of money. Quite a few bounty hunters show up at my bar."

"And the authorities here? Do they not put bounties on pirates?"

"Too many people in government- local, state, federal- profit from space piracy and smugglin' and all that shit. I suspect that even many of the Cardies and Vulks prefer to let the pirates be someone else's problem. They'll reward people who bring pirates in, and their ship captains will capture any pirate they come across, but they won't actually send ships specifically to capture pirates."

"Any other lucrative opportunities?" asks Kirk, leaning back.

"Mercenary," answers the bartender. "The Vulks are recruiting mercenaries from so many worlds, including this backwater, to fight their war. But you would know about it, wouldn't you, Mr. Vulk?"

"The galaxy has changed much since I was… last on Vulcan," replies Spock. "Three years, in fact."

"If you want to make it big, them's your choices. Only other options are to sweep floors and pick crops."

As they are talking, a third person overhears their conversation. He pulls out a cellular telephone and presses buttons on a speed dial.

"Captain Billy," he says. "It seems our guests are here."


	4. Chapter 4

"And to think they were getting the best suntan of their lives," says Captain Billy, lying down on a deck chair while sipping on Romulan ale.

"It was those prisoners, boss," says the _Condor_ crewman. "I overheard them talk about being bounty hunters."

"I just want one day off and I have to deal with this."

Jack Rawlins meets with the captain and first officer on the balcony of Captain Billy's penthouse apartment, located inside an apartment tower overlooking the Pacific Ocean; little fishing boats floating on the ocean. They are all dressed casually in comfortable clothes. The pirate captain had invited him to his earthly apartment before; he still remembers seeing the alien souvenirs from their voyages. Few people would accuse Captain Billy of being inhospitable. Not that anyone alive would confuse his hospitality with being an easy target for exploitation or robbery, due to no small part to the fact that people who made that sort of mistake had a tendency to end up dead.

"It's what you have to do to be able to afford a fine place like this, Captain," says _Condor_ First officer Sito Nara, a light-haired woman with ridges on her nose. "There's quite a bounty on your head."

"And those who tried to collect only got a cauterized hole in their chest as their bounty," says the captain, reminiscing about a few exciting events in his career as a space pirate.

"There is one more thing, boss," says the crewman. "They seem to want to go back to that planet where we found them."

"That desolate wasteland?" asks Captain Billy. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to go back there. It's far from the established warp trade routes."

"I must remind you, Captain," says Sito, "that its remoteness is why _we_ were there before. It's far from the main interstellar trade routes. And those strange energy fluctuations make it difficult for even Vulcan long-range sensors to find us."

"Right, that was where we made our exchange with our Ferengi friends a few days ago."

"So why would they want to go back?" asks the first officer. "Unless they were expecting to meet someone there?"

"it's been days, sir," says Rawlins. "Whoever they were supposed to meet probably made other plans."

"We need to know who they are," says Billy. "A human and a Vulcan. They said they worked for Federation Star Shipping, and their office denied that those two ever worked for them. And they just happened to be on that planet that same day we were meeting with those Ferengi. Bounty hunters? Rival pirates?"

"And do not forget they somehow manage to escape being beamed into the sun," says Sito.

"What disturbs me is this. They happened to be on the planet the same time we finished our business with those Ferengi. They may have been trying to steal from us."

"What we had stolen from others," says his first officer.

"Of course," comments the captain. "As to why they might be going back there? Perhaps they know of a big deal happening on that same planet."

"And there's got to be more than those two," says the crewman. "We picked them up because they were trying to contact their ship, which means someone else was on their ship to receive their call. And yet, they did not follow us here, and from what I overheard, they don't have a spaceship."

"Their ship could have been captured or destroyed," says Sito. "In the meantime, Captain, we still have that milk run."

"Ah, yes," says Captain Billy. "A most profitable venture. Crates of milk from Wisconsin, we sell it to these aliens who use it to make a very addictive street drug, we use some of the money to purchase small arms and some of the money to purchase crates of Denobulan cough syrup. We sell the small arms to the Great Lakes Union for their little war, and the cough syrup goes to these distributors in China who then make the Jewels of Sound. And of course, we pay our share to the right people for them to look the other way." The captain grimaces at those last words.

"We'd better make sure the ship is ready," replies the first officer.

oooooooooooooo

"Maybe we could have a career in agriculture," says Captain James Kirk. "In case we can't find our way back to that planet."

"Vulcan did have farmland near its seas, and should in this alternate reality," says Commander Spock.

The two of them ride, along with about a dozen day-laborers, in a large pickup truck. They had spent the day harvesting boysenberries on a farm next to Highway 39, extremely physically-intensive repetitive work neither man had experienced since their plebe year at Starfleet Academy. Their daily pay was barely more than what they need to buy food. It is sundown, as the sky fades into night.

They watch as the farmland from horizon to horizon is replaced by rows of shanties. A closer look reveals that worn-out couches and chairs sit haphazardly in small weedscapes in front of the shanties. Children play barefoot. Kirk noted that in the history of the Earth he remembers- permanent shanty communities became a thing of Earth's past after the post-atomic horror ended in the early 22nd century.

"At this rate of pay, we will not be able to afford even a charter flight until the late twenty-fourth century," says Spock. Memories of their visit to the spaceport yesterday afternoon surface in the Vulcan's mind. It was called Daugherty Field, and it was a small spaceport, consisting of a field, a control tower, and several hangars. Many space vessels had been parked there, some with warp nacelles. They had visited the offices, finding out that charter warp spaceflights were very expensive- let alone those that would go to uncharted, uninhabited planets- and jobs as spaceship crews were not so much available. Not surprisingly, no one at the spaceport mentioned anything about the _Condor_ or Captain Billy, as they would be wary about bounty hunters going after their clients.

"Spock, we're just doing this until we get a job on a starship," says Kirk. "and we won't have to pay everything in cash, just enough to get a line of credit to allow us to pay for a charter to that planet."

"I would not take a job on a starship from here," says a dark-skinned human dressed in overalls. "They're either pirates o' smugglers. One wrong move and you either get vaped or you get locked in a prison millions o' light years from Earth. At least bein' a farmhand, it don't pay much, but it's honest work."

"Thank you for the information," says the Vulcan.

The truck's driver drops off the day-laborers at the Free Market; they all get off, sweat staining their clothes. The shopkeepers at the market are just finished wrapping things up.

"It appears that the food trucks have departed," says Spock.

"I was hoping to have some cream-cheese jalapeno poppers," says Kirk. "Haven't had those since our last starbase visit." He looks at the cash the paymaster had provided at the end of the day. "It's potato chips for dinner, Spock."

And so it is that a bag of potato chips becomes their dinner.

Ooooooo

The next morning, Kirk and Spock go to the free market again, where the day laborers gather for their jobs. Representatives of various employers arrive to hire cheap, unskilled labor, the most common type of labor in this part of this reality's version of Earth, a sight the two officers from a Starfleet from another reality had become accustomed to.

"We have space available for a starship deployment!" yells a female voice. "We pay a lot more than farm work!"

Kirk looks a light-skinned woman in a blouse and a dress. She has ridges on her nose. Many of the day laborers flock to her, knowing that crewmen on starships get paid more per day than farm laborers or even ocean fishermen. Notably, Tom is not among the workers hoping for the better-paying crewman position.

"I am interested," says Spock, approaching the woman. "As you can see, I am not all human."

"A Vulcan," says the woman. "Most Vulcans living on Earth live in the region called China, not around here."

"I am trying to find my place in this galaxy," says Spock. "I left Vulcan three years ago and I am between starship crew jobs. I've experience working on starships."

"I worked on spaceships too," says Kirk.

"I take it that your nose is not deformed," says Spock.

"I am from a planet called Bajor. It's close to Cardassia Prime"

"Never heard of Bajor," says Kirk.

"I'm offering the Vulcan here the position," says the woman.

"I will accept if you hire my friend as well," says Spock.

"Do you accept?" asks the Bajoran.

"Yeah, it's good money," says Kirk. He and Spock introduce themselves.

"I am Sito Nara. We have a van waiting for you."

"I would like to discuss further details about our compensation," says Spock.

"We can discuss it in the spaceport," says Sito.

Many of the day laborers look on with envy as a silver-paneled van leaves the Free Market.

Ooooooooooo

About half an hour later, Kirk and Spock step outside the van at the Daugherty Field spaceport. They can see all sorts of service vehicles driving around the spaceships parked here. It is a warm day, with only a few clouds in the sky.

"This is it," says Sito. "Our ship. A GDY-100 class light freighter."

The two Starfleet officers take a look at the starship. It is shaped like a brick, seven decks tall, and painted beige. Two warp nacelles are attached, one on each side. The registry number X15123-30 is stenciled on the hull. The hull looks as if it had more than its share of wear and tear. Crewmen in overalls prepare the ship for its flight. The rear ramp is open, with people pushing hand trucks loaded with boxes into the ship.

"We're going to be delivering milk," says Sito. "it contains chemicals that are not easily synthesized. In exchange, we get some alien technology to bring back to Earth."

"It is logical," says Spock. "Biological systems are, in this context, miniature chemical factories.

"You sure know about the economics."

"My friend and I have a question about the compensation. We wish to go to this particular uninhabited planet around a star system. We will be willing to take a pay cut if necessary."

"I don't know. If your destination adds even two days to our journey, not even you forgoing the one hundred dollars would compensate for what we would have to pay the crew."

"Perhaps," says Spock. "I would like to show you where we are going, so you could decide whether it would be too much trouble for you."

"If it isn't too far, we might drop you off. If you work well, we might hire you for more trips."

"Thanks," says Kirk.

"We need some preparation. Make yourself familiar with the ship. We want to leave at noon."

"Yes, ma'am," says Kirk.

Ooooooooo

Kirk and Spock spend time working on the ship, under the supervision of Sito Nara and the senior mates on board. They show themselves to be quite adept in prepping the ship for its flight, which impresses the officers.

"Here's your cabin, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Spock," says a shacven-headed man with a moustache.

"Reminds me of my first space deployment," says Spciok, looking at the small closert-like space with two bunks.

"this is the captain," says Sito. Everyone prepare for takeoff."

Kirk and Spock quickly fold out some foldaway seats and fasten seat beklts with the ship's registry number.

"Safety first," says a crewman.

On the ship's bridge, Sito looks at the viewscreen while sitting in the captain's chair. The bridge has the typical appearance of a light freighter bridge, with consoles for navigation and to monitor the ship's systems.

"We have been cleared for liftoff," says the helmsman, a young dark-skinned man with a clean-cut shaven face.

"Take us out, Mr. Kennedy," says Sito.

"Yes, ma'am," replies Zack Kennedy. "X-Ray One Five One Two three Dash Three Zero lifting off."He presses some buttons and pushes a lever and the freighter's thrusters lift the ship up, up, and away, vibrating the hull. The helmsman speaks with orbital traffic control as the GDY-100 freighter rises through Earth's atmosphere. After about half an hour, the shaking stops. "We have achieved orbit," he says.

"Excellent," says Sito. She speaks into a microphone plugged in to the captain's chair. "This is the captain speaking, we have cleared takeoff. You may now move about the deck."

She leaves the bridge, using a lift to go to the main deck. She approaches some crewmen, including Kirk and Spock.

"we will be beaming our cargo up as planned," she says. "come with me to the transporter room."

Kirk and Spock join Sito and the other crewmen, walking along the corridors, reaching a small room with a raised platform. A transporter operator stands by.

"We're ready," he says.

"Do it," says Sito.

The operator pushes a lever. Lights flicker above the transport pad, and a man appears. He weats a trench coat, black shuirt, black pants, and leather boots. A gold necklace hangs from his neck. His most distinctive feature is his dreadlocked beard.

"Ah, James," says the man. "I am so glad you could rejoin us. Welcome back to the _Condor_."

"Captain Billy," says Kirk.

"And I should welcome the Vulcan back as well," says the pirate captain.

"I am honored by your hospitality," Spock says sarcastically.

"We still have some things to wrap up here in orbit before we go to warp," says Captain Billy. "These two will be placed in holding."


	5. Chapter 5

The transporter aboard the _Condor_ whirs to life, and crates of milk, beamed from a warehouse in Wisconsin, materialize. The pirates use hand trucks to cart the milk away to a storage area. Captain Billy and First Mate Sito Nara walk along the deck just outside the transporter room.

"Having those two on board is a risk, sir," says Sito.

"Not as risky as that time we swiped crates of starship engine components from a Nausican freighter," says Captain Billy. "Sito, go to the bridge and make sure everything is ready for us to leave orbit and go to warp. I will have a conversation with our guests."

Billy enters his quarters, which is essentially a large bedroom with a small private head in an adjoining room. He turns on a device and sees the two prisoners. They, in turn, see the holographic image of his face.

"Ah, James," he says. "I believe I was a bit hasty in trying to beam you and your Vulcan friend into the sun that day."

Neither man responds.

"My first mate told me you requested passage to a particular planet in lieu of what she promised to pay you. I am guessing it is that same planet where we found you in the first place."

"Yes, it is, Billy," says Kirk. "We do want to go back to that planet. And there is something down there that is even more worthwhile than selling milk."

"Like what?"

"We told you we were hunting a fugitive. It is true. He took refuge on that planet. We tracked them here, but we lost contact with our ship."

"Ah, so you are bounty hunters."

"We are indeed bounty hunters," says Spock.

"I believe you, Vulcan," says Captain Billy. "I know Vulcans do not lie. And to whom would I collect this bounty? I can not go to Vulcan or Cardassia, as they have a bounty on me."

"Our fugitive will face trial on Earth," says Kirk.

"You will stay where you are as we make our trades. Any sign of trouble, and we will kill you."

Billy hangs up and walks to the bridge, sitting in the captain's chair.

"Escape vector is laid in, Captain," says Zack Kennedy, who had pressed buttons on the helm console. "We are ready to leave orbit."

"Take us out, Kennedy," says the captain.

"Yes, sir," replies the helmsman,. He presses a few buttons, and the _Condor_ leaves Earth orbit, towards an escape trajectory that would take it outside the solar system. It only takes a few minutes to pass lunar orbit.

"Warp core status?" asks Billy.

"Warp core ignition sequence started," says Kennedy. He looks at the gauges. "Warp core powering up." One minute later, he says, "Warp core ready. Course to destination set, warp seven."

"Go into warp," says Billy.

"Yes, sir."

The Condor's warp nacelles flash blue, and the pirate ship zooms into space and disappears in a flash of lights it goes into warp.

Captain Billy reflects on his career as a smuggler and a pirate. There was not much opportunity in the West American States., and even opportunities for humans in China, Ethiopia, or Australia paled in comparison to opportunities in space, the final frontier. He had served as a mercenary in the Cardassian Foreign Legion, which recruited people from backwater worlds- like Earth- which had little to offer except chemicals made naturally by its native flora and fauna, and of course warm bodies to serve as cannon fodder. He managed to become captain of this ship, dealing with all sorts of aliens in all sorts of shady deals. He got to witness new life and new civilizations- almost always on the seedier side.

He certainly prefers smuggling over piracy, as starting a fight with someone created even more risk on top of the inherent risks of traveling the galaxy in a lightly-armed GDY-100 class light freighter. But much of the valuable loot in this part of the galaxy can only be retrieved by attacking freighters, smashing and grabbing and getting away before reinforcements could arrive. Space piracy had been all too common ever since the War of the Stars one hundred years before had resulted in a power vacuum throughout the entire quadrant, allowing pirates to prey on ships like vultures feeding on a corpse in the Sahara desert.

In his mind, he is doing humanity a service. Humanity would be even more backward than they were now were it not for pirates and smugglers like him bringing in alien tech. Even alloys were far superior to anything that people on Earth could make for themselves. So what if a few aliens get killed in raids? Or if aliens ruin their lives via drug addiction from drugs refined from earthly life? And those few crewmen under his watch who were killed in the line of duty, that was the risk they took for their pay. It was all for humanity.

And all for profit.

Of course, he could not have succeeded without officers like his First Mate Sito Nara, the Bajoran who did not buy the bullshit peddled in her home world , serving with him in the Cardassian Foreign Legion. And Zack Kennedy, the helmsman, a disgraced space pilot who gleefully chose to be helmsman of a pirate ship rather than finding a low-paying job he wopuld otherwise be restricted to due to his record, who says, "Sir, there's a ship matching us at warp. It's huge.

"What?" asks the captain.

"They synced their warp field with us!" yells Kennedy.

"Try to break out."

Kennedy presses buttons and flips switches on his helmsman's console, but the screen indicates that the ship is matching its changes in warp velocity. This is a common tactic, intercepting as ship at warp, syncing the warp fields, to be able to conduct a raid or attack.

"We have a communication," says a crewman at a communications console.

"Put it up," says Captain Billy.

"this is the Vulcan Space Guard ship _N'Tal. _We know that the wanted fugitive known as Captain Billy is on board. Drop out of warp and prepare to be boarded, or we will open fire."

"The Vulcans," says Sito Nara. "That Vulcan!"

The ship shakes.

"Shields down," says Jack Rawlins, looking at a monitor screen. The Condor is a GDY-100 class light freighter, not designed for a toe-to-toe battle with an enemy warship.

Suddenly, lights appear, and huge, sexipedal machines appear. They fire stun pulses. Men adorned in helmets and flak jackets beam abord.

"Bridge is secure," says the man.

_Our pirate ship's just been pirated_, thinks Captain Billy.

Elsewhere inside the pirate ship, Kirk and Spock see one of the sexipedal machines enter the room. They both put their hands up, not looking forward to being on the receiving end of one of the stun blasts.

"We are not pirates," says Spock.

"I never knew you guys had those things," says Kirk, speaking to a man bearing a phaser rifle. "this really is an alternate reality."

Another man walks inside. "So you are the ones who tipped us off to the location of Captain Billy," he says. He removes his helmet, revealing his Vulcan ears.

"That's us," says Kirk. "First time bounty hunters."

Oooooooo

A few hours later, Kirk and Spock sit in one of the safety chairs as they feel the ship land. The plan had worked better than they had hoped for. Spock had called the Vulcan Orbital Embassy over Earth using a prepaid cellular telephone, offering to lead the Vulcans to Captain Billy. It had been a stroke of luck when they accepted a job at the _Condor_- but not too surprising, as it was likely that the pirate captain was looking for them, and would try to entice them back on his ship. Once on the ship as crewmen, Spock became very helpful, which meant that no one noticed making a few unobtrusive modifications to the comm system, allowing him to contact the Vulcans while imprisoned in the holding cell.

There was much luck involved. Luck has helped them out in the past. Of course, both men knew from personal experience that luck was not always in their favor, nor always in the favor of those that they cared about.

Kirk and Spock walk off the boarding ramp of the _Condor_. Kirk can feel the heat of the air. He sees a red sky over a busy spaceport with starships, service vehicles, and ground crews servicing both. In the distance are dry, reddish mountains.

"Welcome to Vulcan, Spock," he says.

Spock takes a deep breath, and has a blank, calm stare.

Oooooooo

A door opens, and a Vulcan walks in, clad in some sort of uniform. He sits at a wooden table which is apparently used for conferences. Captain James Kirk and Commander Spock face the Vulcan officer.

"We did identify the bearded human as Captain Billy," says the Vulcan officer. "One of the most wanted pirates in this part of our galaxy. The bounty will be split between you two, of course."

"And what happens to Captain Billy?" asks Kirk.

"He will be tried in our courts for at least twelve acts of deep space piracy. We do not have an extradition treaty with his nation, the American West states, I believe it is called. But we will contact them through this agency the nations of your world set up to deal with aliens."

"Yeah, Earth doesn't have a united government in this timeline. Anyway, we asked you about the bounty."

"You will be paid cash in Vulcan currency. In addition, you will be offered permanent residency on Vulcan. Many aliens from the second-rate worlds seek to live on Vulcan for our better opportunities, but only a few ten thousand were granted permission."

"I want to ask for the _Condor_, the pirate ship, as well as fuel and provisions. We'll even take a reduced cash payment in exchange for keeping the ship."

"I will have to get authorization from my superiors of course," says the Vulcan officer. He looks at Spock. "I wonder what you were doing with this James Kirk person?" he asks.

"I left Vulcan three years ago," says Spock. "On a trek through the stars. I met James Kirk during my travels."

"Perhaps you wish to rest here on your home planet and see the sights. Or even settle here."

"Maybe," says Spock.

Kirk glances a look at his first officer.

The officer leaves the conference room.

"As Bones would say, are you out of your Vulcan mind?" asks Kirk. "Staying here?"

"It was many days before I could read a news report about what happened," says Spock, emotions carried by his voice. "Three years. It had been three years. I could never forget. I looked as everything was going down, going down into the endless pit. Even to this day, I could never bring myself to see a video feed of those final moments. And now here we are, on Vulcan, complete and whole."

"Do you want to stay here?"

"Yes," answers Spock. I want to stay. I've made it back here, and I want to stay here, go to the places I thought I'd never see again."

"So you're really staying here."

"But I also want to go back to the _Enterprise_ . To serve as first officer, complete the five-year mission. And to see Nyota."

"You have to choose, Spock," says Kirk. "And live with your choice."

"Indeed, I must. But not now. I will accompany you to the planet, and help you see if there is a way to get back."

"To be perfectly honest, we may find nothing on the planet that will help us get back. We could be stuck here. If that is the case, I think I would rather live on Vulcan."

"And I will help you, Jim. But we'll see what happens when we get to that planet."

Ooooooooooo

_Captain's log. I never thought I would say this, but we are on Planet Vulcan on an alternate version of the year 2261. Spock expressed a desire to settle. He has decided to go to that planet where we apparently crossed realities. The Vulcans of this reality gave us the _Condor_, as well as fuel and provisions to last us for two weeks, as part of the bounty for the pirate captain that we helped capture. _

Spock takes a deep breath before setting foot on the boarding ramp of the _Condor_; it may very well be the last time that he breathed the air. He is still torn between wanting to stay here and going back to the _Enterprise_. However, he has every intention of helping Jim get back to the _Enterprise, _and that meant going to that strange planet. He and Kirk seal all hatches and do a last minute check on all systems to make sure they are working properly. Spock might not have decided his travel plans, but they sure do not include choosing between having his incinerated remains scattered in the Vulcan atmosphere or in deep space.

"This is X-Ray One Five One Two Three Dash Three Zero," says Spock, speaking into a headset while sitting at the helm console. "We are requesting permission for liftoff.

"This is _B'Talek_ tower," says a voice. "You are cleared to lift off on vector five niner."

"Copy."

The _Condor_ lifts off, its landing struts losing contact with the Vulcan ground. In about half an hour, it leaves the atmosphere of Vulcan. Soon, the GDY-100 class freighter is on an escape vector.

"Artificial gravity, check," says Spock. "Autopilot is on. Initiating warp core ignition sequence."

"Okay," says Kirk. "Let's set the course."

An image of a part of the galaxy shows on the the bridge's viewscreen. "If I remember correctly, the planet is in this region," says Spock, pointing to the viewscreen. He presses buttons on the console. I am setting course at Warp Factor Seven."

"Punch it," says the captain.

The nacelles glow, and the _Condor_ goes into warp.

Oooooo

"Sensors pick up strange energy readings from a planet in this red giant system," says Spock, looking at a monitor screen. He walks over to the helm. "I am setting course."

The two men have been inside the _Condor_ for three days, traveling at its maximum standard cruising warp factor; they did not want to take any more risks trying to find out if they could get there faster. They had eaten food from that replicator device, which was quite a novelty. Kirk makes a mental note of finding if if they can obtain a replicator the next time _he_ visits a populated world. But…

"Have you decided if you will be going back to Vulcan after we find a way back to the _Enterprise_?" asks Kirk.

"No, I have not," says Spock. "We should be reaching the planet in five more hours."

The _Condor_ drops out of warp, and approaches a reddish planet. Its navigation systems park the GDY-100 into a low orbit over the planet. Spock looks at a monitor screen.

"Here is where the interference is strongest," says Spock.

"Let's get down there," says Kirk.

They go to the freighter's transporter room. They are both armed with phasers and tricorders and an transporter remote, which would allow them to call the _Condor_ and beam back up in case of an emergency. Spock goes to the console and presses buttons to enter coordinates and set a ten second time delay.

Coordinates entered," says Spock.

"Let's go," says Kirk.

They both step onto the pad, and beam down to the planet.

The two men find themselves in the desolate ruins they had first seen about a week or so ago. Their tricorders havelimited range due to the interference, just like before.

"Energy readings are getting stronger in this direction," says Spock.

"Wait, these ruins look familiar," says Kirk.

"We have been here before, Captain," says the commander.

"More than that, I know where it is."

It is a few more minutes after walking through the ruinscape, past chunks of walls and support columns, before they reach their destination.

It is the mysterious arch. Their tricorders only confirm what they know- this arch is the source of the interference. Various images flash, as it did before.

"This is it, Spock," says Kirk. That energy wave that caused Bones and the others to disappear came from here. What is it?"

"A question," says a deep, baritone voice. "Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."

The voice was coming from the arch.

"Who are you?" asks Kirk.

"I am the Guardian of Forever, neither machine nor being while at the same time both, having neither beginning nor end and yet existing in time."

"That is a little hard to understand," says Spock, even as he holds up his tricorder. "Are you some sort of time portal?"

"Yes, I am," says the Guardian. "I am a door to any spacetime."

"A man named Richard Beckwith disappeared," says Kirk.

"He has gone into the past of Earth," says the Guardian. "There, he split time in twain, and you ended up in a timestream not your own. To get back to your timestream, you must interceopt him before he splits time in twain."

"If we do so," says Spock. "What happens to the people here?"

"They will go on without you."

"And if we do not stop Beckwith?" asks Kirk.

"Then your timestream will continue without you. I show images from the two timestreams. Study them, for they may provide the clue as to where they split and how you may go back to your proper history."

The two men use their tricorders to record the images flashing through the timestream. Almost all of the images are of humans.

"I will open the gateway to a past before Richard Beckwith arrives. If you stop him from splitting time, you will go back to your timestream. Fail, and in this history you shall remain forever."

Kirk does not hesitate to run right through the Guardian's time portal and into the past.


	6. Chapter 6

Upon his arrival in the past, the first thing Federation Starfleet Captain James Tiberius Kirk notices is a large, noisy vehicle moving straight at him. He quickly dodges to the left. He looks and sees a boxy, wheeled vehicle pass by. The driver honks his horn.

He looks around and sees he is on a city street. Wheeled vehicles move around, and people walk along the sidewalks. The air feels a little chilly.

"Jim!" he hears a voice yell.

"Spock!" he calls out upon seeing the Vulcan. "You've made it," he says, feeling relieved that his executive officer and friend decided to try to go back to the _Enterprise_.

"Any idea?"

"The store signs are in English, and I nearly got run over by a Budweiser beer truck. We're in an English-speaking region of Earth."

Spock pulls out his tricorder. "No sign of any nearby temporal anomalies," says the commander. "Beckwith may not be arriving here for quite some time."

"We will take a look around," says Kirk.

They walk along the sidewalk, noticing that their clothing is significantly different than that worn bty the humans of this place and time period. Spock retrieves a piece of paper from a trash can.

"The year is 1930," he says.

"Three hundred thirty years," says Kirk. "If only McGivers were here; she could help us out a lot."

The two men hear a loud voice. They decide to investigate. Walking down the street, they encounter a crowd of people in a small open space. They are all dressed in what appears to be hand-me-downs, many of the clothes having visible signs of repair. None of them would look out of place in that impoverished part of Earth in that alternate version of 2261. A man dressed in good clothes speaks to the crowd.

"Only a year ago, many of you had well-paying jobs, investments, savings," says the speaker. "And then we lost it all, having to rely on handouts. So many of us have had to go entire days without food. We had everything, and we suddenly lost it, without warning or explanation. Well, I have an explanation!"

"What explanation?' asks a man whose clothes are clearly two sizes too large for him.

"Foreigners!" yells the man. "These foreigners stole our money and took our jobs! If these foreigjn scum did not come here, none of this would be happening."

"So ugly," says Kirk. "I can't believe we were like this."

"Sadly, such sentiments are not limited to this time or these people," says Spock. "All forms of life are territorial."

"He's a foreigner!" yells one of the men, pointing at Spock. "Get him!"

Both Kirk and Spock know that there are too many in the crowd for their phasers to handle. They run down the street, hearing the angry voices of the crowd. They turn a corner and their feet take them down some stairs and into a dark room. They hunker down for a few minutes, holding their phasers in case the crowd makes its way inside. After about ten or so minutes, they feel it is safe to relax.

The first thing the two men notice is that the room is dusty, enough to make them cough. All sorts of junk are in the room, and there is litter strewn on the floor. An oil furnace burns.

"Okay," says Kirk. "Let's strategize. We know Richard Beckwith is supposed to arrive in this time period. I believe it is one week from now."

"That is what the Guardian said," says Spock.

"How do we know Beckwith will arrive here? He could end up in Boise. Or San Diego. Or Honolulu. Or Des Moines. Or Outer Mongolia, for that matter."

"Or Vulcan," says Spock. "But the Guardian is not some random temporal anomaly; it is a form of intelligent life the likes which we never encountered. It did direct us to this time and this place. Beckwith will arrive in this city. I recorded Guardian's images on my tricorder. But I have no access to a 23rd century computer. "

"Who's down there?' asks a soft, female voice.

Kirk looks and sees a woman standing on a short flight of stairs, looking to be in her late twenties, with her dark hair made in a bobbed style. She wears as a green dress and an apron.

"We were chased by this mob," says Kirk. "We hid down here."

"You should at least say hello first," says the woman.

"Jim Kirk," says the Starfleet captain. "This is my friend, Spock."

"An unusual name," replies the woman, she looks at Spock, who had found a knit cap and covered his head and ears.

"Where are we?"

"The Twenty-First Street mission. We are helping people down on their luck."

"Listen, we have been down on our luck. We want to know if there is any work available."

"You can sweep floors and clean up this basement. We are so shorthanded."

"At what rate of pay?" asks Spock. "Setting up radio tubes is my hobby and I would like to buy parts and equipment."

"Fifteen cents an hour for ten hours, plus a free meal. You are hired for today."

"Thank you, Miss," says Kirk.

"My name is Edith Keeler," says the woman.

"Time to get to work, Spock," says Kirk, picking up a broom.

"Yes, Captain," replies Spock.

Oooooooooo

For dinner, Kirk and Spock sit at the mission's dining hall. Many men, dressed in scruffy clothes, sit down. None of them would look out of place in that Free Market in that alternate future the two Starfleet officers had escaped from. Vegetable stew is served in white ceramic bowls. The two men, along with everyone else in the room, eat the vegetable stew.

"It does taste better than the basic rations we had during field training," says Kirk.

"Agreed," says Spock.

Edith Keeler walks onto a stage, which is empty save for a piano. "Now it is time to pay for the stew," she says.

"Here comes our payment," says this scruffy-looking older man sitting next to Kirk. "Got to listen to this broad. It would be better if she took off…"

"Don't say anything," replies the Starfleet captain. "It would be much less trouble just to listen."

"I am glad that you are all here," says Keeler. "First of all, I will tell you this. If you just want to expect a handout and get drunk, this is not the place for you. This mission is for people who want to make themselves and the world better. These are difficult times. But we have been through worse before. Twelve years ago, we came out of a war that left an entire generation of young men dead. We have worked hard to heal, and to learn the lessons of a completely unnecessary war that wasted so much life. If we could recover from that, then we can recover from this. I believe that we can someday make a world where people will not have to fight each other over food and shelter, where they would not starve to death on the street, where children will not have to die of polio or smallpox. We won't be perfect, but we can and we will make things better. And to play a role in making that future- that is makes the day worth living for."

"She is prescient," says Spock. "and it will be true, if we can set time on its proper course."

"Not too many like her, even when we're from," replies Kirk, taking another spoonful of the vegetable stew.

The men eventually finish their meals and most of them leave.

"Kirk," says Keeler, "I saw your work down in the basement. It looks like it was polished."

"I had some experience in that line of work," answers Kirk. He briefly recalls his plebe year at Starfleet Academy, where he spent a third of his time cleaning up various rooms, and being berated by upperclassmen if he had so much missed a single spot. "Will you be hiring us for more work?"

"Yes, you and your friend can report tomorrow morning at 7:00. Do you have a flop?"

"A what?" asks Kirk, wondering if it refers to something no longer in use in three hundred years.

"A place to sleep. You must be new at this."

"We are kind of new to the neighborhood."

"There is a vacant apartment in my building. It can rent for two dollars a week. I can take you there."

"Thank you," says Kirk.

"Captain, may I ask what is going on?" asks Spock.

"It seems we have a flop, Spock," replies Kirk.

Spock shows unfamiliarity with the term.

Ooooooo

The main room of the flop is merely a small bedroom with two beds. A small alcove has a sink and an electrical outlet, presumably for plugging in a hot plate.

"Fascinating," says Spock. "An ordinary workman's wages, even in these trying times, is enough to pay for a place buigger than the upperclassmen quarters at the Academy."

"I must ask you one thing, Spock," says Kirk. "You could have stayed in Vulcan. You had been gone for three years, never even believing you could ever come back. And yet, here you are, and if we succeed, you won't be able to go back to Vulcan."

"My mother," replies Spock.

"What about your mother?"

"I remember the shock I felt when she wasn't on the transporter pad. And the grief that followed knowing that she could never come back.I still wake up with nightmares, sometimes. And yet, I remember growing up with her. She sheltered me when I felt like a stranger on my own planet. She encouraged me to find my own path. I remember her being at my graduation from Starfleet Academy, when I was formally commissioned as an ensign."

"You must still miss her."

"And yet, in that other reality, she never was. Amanda Grayson never even existed. She never married a man who loved her, never had a son. None of that happened there. All because of what Beckwith did here. We must stop Beckwith, otherwise, she will never be. Neither of my families with ever be."

Oooooooo

_First Officer's log._

_I had chosen to accompany Kirk back to the year 1930 in order to stop Richard Beckwith and get back to our proper timeline. Using the money we earned, I bought electronic parts- primitive as they are- to be able to read what the Guardian of Forever showed us. In the meantime, Captain Kirk has been spending time with our employer, Edith Keeler. _

James Kirk and Edith Keeler walk together, passing by a storefront with a sign reading Floyd's Barber shop. A radio being played from a radio repair shop plays the song "Goodnight, Sweetheart" by Ray Noble.

"Jim..can I call you Jim…Spock called you a captain a couples of times. Did you serve in the war?" asks Keeler.

"We serve together," says Kirk.

"My father served in the war. He never came back."

"I'm sorry."

"I remember when my mother and I were at the dock, saying goodbye to him as he boarded the ship that would take him to Europe. He was off to make the world safe for democracy. Then I get word that he was killed in combat. I learned that he died on my fifteenth birthday. And my little sister never even got to meet him."

"I know what that's like."

"Your father was killed in the war?"

"He died in combat with the enemy. I never knew him."

"I am sorry. It was just such a shame. An entire generation of men snuffed out for nothing. If only we can get people to stop fighting, so people like our fathers don't have to die. I guess you don't like to talk about it."

"Not really."

"Then let me help."

"Let me help," says Jim. "A hundred years from now, a famous author is going to use those words, saying that they are even better than I love you."

"And where is he from?" asks Edith.

"Want to hear a silly answer?"

"Okay."

"A planet orbiting the far left star in Orion's belt."

"It's not that silly. I believe that mankind will harness incredible energies. We will use these energies to go beyond our world, to explore new civilizations on other worlds. Maybe we could even witness God breathe new life into a new world, like He did here so long ago."

"And you believe that?"

"It was before my first birthday when the Wright Brothers made their famous flight."

"And mankind will reach the moon in forty years or so. That's not silly, that is history."

oooooooooooooo

"This ought to do it," says Spock, looking at the array of wires and tubes. He had been working the past few days assembling equipment he had shopped around for at various stores.

He checks the tricorder's connection with the electronic array one last time. He looks at a switch.

The Vulcan flips it.

An image appears right above the apparatus. He uses another button to cycle through the images, and then he sees an image of Edith Keeler. It is accompanied by a news article.

The Star Dispatch

Social Worker Killed in Traffic Accident

**By Elliot Harlan**

**A woman was killed in an auto accident yesterday on 21****st**** Street at about 8:00 P.M, when she was struck by a truck carrying Budweiser beer as she crossed the street. She was identified as Edith Keeler, 27, who runs the 21****st**** Street Mission, a local soup kitchen. "She was a good person," said a frequent patron of the mission known as "Trooper". "She had this vision of wanting to make life better. She inspired us all."**

**Already, a makeshift memorial was set up at the site of the traffic accident. Keeler is known to have been survived by her mother and a younger sister, both living in Bronx, New York. The mayor's office has issued condolences and announced it will help with the funeral expenses. **

"So tragic," says Spock.


	7. Chapter 7

Captain James Kirk walks as down the hallway of the apartment building, carrying two paper bags full of groceries that he had purchased from a corner market just down the street. He uses a key to unlock the door to the flop he and Commander Spock are temporarily renting during their stay in the past.

"I've got groceries, Spock," he says. "Veggies for you, and bologna and bread for me. Too bad we couldn't have taken that _Condor_ ship with us; that replicator was sure useful."

"Captain," says Spock, "I have managed to display the images in our tricorders and I found out something about Edith Keeler."

"Show me," says the captain.

"Yes, sir," replies the commander. He presses a button and an image of a news article appears. Edith Keeler's picture accompanies the article.

**December 1, 1939**

**American Envoy Praised for Cease Fire, But Doubts Remain**

**By Simon McFadden**

**An American envoy who brokered a cease fire between Germany, France, and Great Britain was today praised for her work in October of 1939 that led to a cease fire between the nations, stopping a war that started when Germany invaded Poland in September.**

**President Roosevelt sent Edith Keeler from the State Department to mediate cease fire talks between the three nations. After a five-day summit in Marseilles, France, they agreed to a cease fire, ending six weeks of hostilities.**

**"I thank Edith Keeler for her service during the Marseilles summit," said U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull. "I can not imagine a person who did more for the cause of her country and the cause of peace."**

**"Edith Keeler has guaranteed peace for our time when we were at the brink of war," said British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, speaking from 10 Downing Street in London. "She may have spared an entire generation of young men."**

**Keeler, 37, has worked for the Roosevelt administration since the President sought her help in 1936 regarding domestic relief matters. She had earlier run a soup kitchen, and went on to direct a charitable agency. She took her present position in the State Department in 1938, advising the administration on matters relating to peace.**

**But a few still express skepticism over the Marseilles agreement.**

**"Her [Edith Keeler's] ideas are noble, but it does not adequately resolve the issues that necessitated the invasion of Poland," said a German official close to Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Unless we have a solid guarantee that Poland will permanently cease its aggression against Germany, this cease fire will only be a temporary respite from war."**

Kirk rereads the article two more times. "There is supposed to be another world war in about ten years," says the captain. "And it seems Edith was involved- or will be involved."

"But I saw another article that says that Edith Keeler will get killed in a traffic accident in three days," says Spock. "The Guardian showed us images from the two timelines, and clearly those two articles are from different histories."

"Show me," says Kirk.

The commander presses a button, and suddenly, they hear a crackle sound and see a flash of light. They smell smoke and ozone. They look and see some of the electrical components burned out, wisps of smoke rising from the components.

"Can you fix it?" asks Kirk.

"Yes, but I am working with the equivalent of stone knives and bear skins," says Spock. "I will have to buy new parts."

"What do you remember about the accident?"

"She was hit by a truck while crossing the street near the mission."

"I get it now," says Kirk, as if a star went supernova in his mind. "Beckwith must have stolen a truck and run down Edith. If Edith is gone, then the course of the next world war would change, maybe even how it ended. Which means a lot of people will die when they should have lived, and others will live when they should have died. That is why the future was so different. There were different people living there."

"Maybe," says Spock.

"Beckwith is the key. We have to find him."

"Our tricorders should be able to detect the type of energy signature the Guardian had. We should be able to detect it at the time of Beckwith's arrival, and intercept him."

"And bring him back," says Kirk. "But if his arrival is too far away in space for us to get to him, then we need that device repaired, so we can get a better idea of how time was split in two. If anyone can make a video device from stoneskins and bear knives, it's you, Spock."

"Thank you for having faith in me, Jim."

The two Starfleet officers hear a knock on the wooden door. Spock puts on his hat to cover his pointed ears. Kirk sees who is on the other side of the door, and opens it.

"Edith," he says.

"Hi, Jim," says Edith. She looks at the electrical apparatus. "That is some hobby, Spock. What is it?"

"A device to project moving images on the screen," replies the Vulcan.

"Like a little movie theater," says Edith.

"Precisely, Miss Keeler."

"There are plenty of employers who would be looking for a skilled electrician like you," says Edith Keeler. "And you would get much more pay than you would cleaning basements or shoveling coal. I have connections in the community and I can ask around."

"I thank you for your offer, Miss Keeler," says Spock.

_Richard Beckwith will decide her fate, unless we stop him!_

_Oooooooooo_

_Captain's log. It was two days since we learned the fate of Edith Keeler. We have yet to repair the device that would allow us to see the Guardian's images, and Edith's fateful encounter with Richard Beckwith is tomorrow evening_

Captain Kirk and Commander Spock are inside their apartment, with Spock carefully screwing in parts that he purchased from the store.

"Is it complete?" asks Kirk.

"Not yet," says Spock. "There were some replacement parts that were out of stock; I will have to look tomorrow morning."

"Edith dies tomorrow evening," says Kirk. "I have an idea. We can wait until tomorrow evening, find that beer truck, and then blast the tires…"

The Starfleet captain is interrupted by a beeping sound.

"The tricorder," he says.

"The energy readings," says Spock, looking at the tricorder display. "We have to hurry."

"Set phasers to stun," says Kirk, holding a phaser.

They walk out the apartment building. It is near dusk, and the sky overhead has the color of a color painting that was drenched in water and then left in the sun to fade. They follow the readings as their peripheral vision navigates them through the city streets, following the trail where the signals get stronger.

"There!" exclaims Kirk. "The readings must be coming from there."

He points down towards an alley. Puddles of stagnant water lie in the center. A green dumpster lies against the building. The alley is strewn with a wide variety of trash and litter. A poster pasted on the wall advertises a boxing match between two boxers named McCook and Mason.

"The energy readings are getting stronger," says Spock, hearing the tricorder beep louder and faster. "His arrival is imminent."

The two men wait in anticipation, ready for anything.

Then suddenly, a man appears out of nothing, and runs towards them.

Spock instantly recognizes the Federation Starfleet uniform; he immediately grabs the man and uses the Vulcan nerve pinch.

"Owww!" yells the man. Kirk looks and sees, without surprise, that the man is Lieutenant Richard Beckwith.

"Never again will I allow someone from the future wreak havoc in the past," says Spock, his grip on the Starfleet fugitive still tight.

"What?" asks Beckwith in confusion. "Commander?" he asks, recognizing the Vulcan.

"Lieutenant Beckwith, you are under arrest for murder," says Captain Kirk. "We are taking you back to the _Enterprise_. You will face a general court-martial for your crime."

"Where are we?' asks the lieutenant.

"Okay, we have Beckwith!" yells Kirk. "Take us back."

There is no response.

"This is Captain Kirk to the Guardian of Forever. We caught our fugitive, take us back to the future!"

"Guardian, we have intercepted Beckwith before he could split time in two," says Spock. "Show us the way home."

"What's going on here?" asks a voice.

"We caught the fugitive Beckwith, take us back!" yells Kirk. He then looks and sees a man dressed in a blue uniform.

A police officer.

Beckwith recognizes the man as a police officer as well. "Help!" he yells. "These two men were robbing me."

"Wait!" yells Kirk.

"Now you better let that man go," says the officer. "I'm warning ya."

"Guardian, now would be an optimal time to make our exit," says Spock, looking up into the dusk sky.

"You two will not be making an exit," says the policeman. "You are under arrest for attempted robbery. Now let go of that man."

"This is not a robbery," Kirk says calmly. "We are not the criminals; he is."

Beckwith suddenly pushes Spock against the wall, gritting his teeth against the pain of the Vulcan pinch.

"Let go!" he yells.

The police officer intervenes, using his club as leverage to free Beckwith from Spock's grasp. Upon being free, Beckwith runs from the alley as fast as his legs could take him.

"Okay," the officer says to Kirk and Spock. "You are coming with me."

He suddenly feels himself knocked back, in extreme pain. He looks up and sees the two robbery suspects fleeing the scene. Fighting against the pain, he blows on his whistle as hard as he can.

Many yards away, Kirk and Spock are running, maneuvering around the crowd of people walking along the sidewalks this late afternoon. Taking a circuitous route, they manage they find their way back to their flop. After waiting an hour, when there were no knocks from the police at the door, they figured that they were in the clear.

But they lost Richard Beckwith.

"Damn!" yells Jim. "Tomorrow he's gonna…"

"I might be able to obtain the parts I need to make this tricorder playback thing work again," says Spock.

"And I can find Beckwith," says Kirk. "And save Edith."


	8. Chapter 8

_First Officer's Log. We had intercepted the fugitive Lieutenant Richard Beckwith upon his arrival to the year 1930, but for some inexplicable reason, the Guardian refused to take us back to our own time, and a lawman from this time interfered and enabled Beckwith to escape. His fateful encounter with Miss Edith Keeler is this evening. _

Commander Spock eats his breakfast of bread. He once again checks his list of the outstanding components he needs to finish the electronic device that would allow him to view the images from the tricorders.

He and Captain James Kirk had a good idea of where Beckwith will eventually show up, but in the meantime it would be prudent for the commander to spend the rest of the day fixing the device and get more detailed information about Edith Keeler's upcoming death.

After finishing his simple breakfast, he makes one final check of the apparatus. He then goes olut into the hallway.

"Good morning, Mr. Spock," says Captain Kirk.

"Morning, Jim," says Spock. "What were you doing with Miss Keeler?" He had noticed Edith Keeler, adroend in a bluie coat and wearing a purple hat.

"We were," Edith Keeler begins to answer.

"Conversing," says Jim. "You know, about the future, going into space, how everyone on Earth would have clean water and three meals a day and not die of polio and stuff."

"I see," says the Vulcan. "I have known where you conversations lead."

"I need to go to the Mission for the morning meal, and then I will call my friends to see if they can offer you a job," says Keeler.

"I would appreciate that," says Spock.

Oooooooooo

_I joined Starfleet to get rich, and now I'm washin' dishes in some bloody soup kitchen three hundred years before my time. _

The hot water flows out of the stainless steel faucet, as it rinses over the ceramic plate. Starfleet Lieutenant Richard Beckwith scrubs the plates with dishwashing soap and rinses it. He winces in pain from that neck pinch Commander Spock gave him yesterday. He had quite a few experiences washing dishes, back when he was at the bottom of the barrel during his initial training.

He briefly reflects how he got here. It did not start with him running through that strange ruin, or even when he struck down Lieutenant Luc LeBeque.

He had always wanted to be more, to do better than his mates in a small town in Queensland, Australia, or what was offered in Brisbane or even Sydney. Space was the final frontier, and there he had the opportunities.

He had some shady contacts, which he used to facilitate smuggling. It had been a stroke of luck when he was promoted to lieutenant and made quartermaster of the _U.S.S. Enterprise_, and assigned for deployment on the five-year mission to seek out new life and new civilizations.

And to make new contacts with which to expand his smuggling network.

Dealing drugs was easy; he knew how to make drugs about of commonly available chemicals. The Jewels of Sound were a very popular drug among humanity, made from Denobulan cough syrup, and in fact, there were sixteen Denobulans in the _Enterprise_ roster, so neither Dr. McCoy nor Captain Kirk would ask too many questions about the quanitity of Denobulan cough syrup brought on board.

Using his contacts, he would create a business empire after he finished with service obligation with Starfleet.

Or he would have, had he not panicked when LeBeque tried to report his own drug use, which would have launched an investigation that would have led straight to Beckwith.

Of course, killing LeBeque branded him a murderer, and one thing led to another, and he ended up in Earth's past. He barely escaped capture by the captain and first officer, when a police officer- such irony!- intervened and tried to arrest Kirk and Spock.

He slept last night on the street, and an old man calling himself "Trooper" referred him to the 21st Street Mission. A lady named Edith Keeler gave an inspirational speech after breakfast, and he volunteered to wash the dishes.

And yet, what Keeler said exposed him to new ideas, and incited him to question himself. He kept telling himself that killing LeBeque was necessary, and that he could not risk being exposed.

But was that the truth? Was dealing drugs all he could ever do? Was killing LeBeque to cover up his crime really worth it?

Edith enters the mission's kitchen. "Great work you did," she says.

"It's the least I could do, ma'am," replies Beckwith.

"What is your name?"

"Richard."

"What is your story? Those are quite unusual clothes."

Richard had almost forgot that he was still in his Starfleet uniform. "Times are tough. It's the best I could wear."

"We at this mission want to help people so that they no longer need charity, and may provide charity to others."

"I heard yer speech. And to tell the truth, I really don't belong here."

"I understand if time's are tough, Richard, but let me help."

"Ya don't understand. Ya see, I was a drug smuggler. I was dealin' this drug called the Jewels of Sound. But one o' my customers nearly caused an accident and wanted to turn 'imself in. But I was afraid it woulda led to me, so I killed 'im. I was arrested, but I escaped custody, and now I'm bloody here."

"Richard…"

"All that stuff ya said about mankind being better-m I'm not part o' that better mankind. I sold addicting drugs to bloody addicts, and I bloody killed one o' them when he threatened to expose 'im. I can't be part o' that future yer talkin' about."

"Yes, you can, Richard."

The Starfleet officer puts away the plate. "How so, sheila?"

"The name's Edith. Anyway, you can be better, be part of that better mankind. Just turn yourself in."

"What?"

"You committed a crime. You sold poison to men for profit, and you killed someone to cover it up. What you did was evil, Richard. You _are_ evil. But you do not have to stay that way. You can become a better man, a good man. And the first time is to surrender yourself to the authorities, stand trial for your crimes."

"I don't know."

"It won't be easy, Richard. To change yourself is perhaps the most difficult thing to do. But it is a burden we all must bear to become good."

"I have to go," says Richard. He quickly egresses through the back door.

Edith goes through the back door, and Richard is already gone. She prays a little prayer for him.

Ooooooooooo

Spock walks through ther hallway back to his flop, carrying electronic parts. He looks and sees Edith Keeler with a bespectacled gentleman looking to be in his early forties.

"Miss Keeler," says Spock. "I was just bringing in these parts to my place."

"For your hobby, right?" asks the social worker.

"Yes."

"Spock, this is Rod N. Berry, the owner of an electronics shop."

"A pleasure to meet you,. Mr. Spock," says Rod N. Berry.

"Please excuse me while I put these parts away," says Spock, opening the door and places the electronics on the table.

"Miss Keeler here told me of your hobby, and what you are making in there," says Berry. "So I want to offer you a job assembling and fixing electronics."

"Offer me a job?"

"Yes. It will pay one dollar an hour. That means two hours of work will be enough to pay a week's rent here- or you can be able to spend more money to find better accommodations."

"I am honored by your offer, Mr. Berry. But.."

"But what, Spock?" asks Keeler.

"Mr. Berry," says Spock, "I am considering other positions."

"I understand," says Berry. "A man of your talents would probably get offers from a dozen employers, even in these trying times. Let me say this. If you show up in my office by noon tomorrow, you can start working right away." He hands Spock a business card with his address and telephone number. " If not, I will assume you accepted someone else's offer for employment. Don't worry about me; at one dollar an hour, it will not be hard for me to find a skilled electrician. Have a great afternoon, Mr. Spock."

Berry then leaves, and Edith Keeler leaves soon after. Spock unpacks the electronics and starts attaching them to the device.

A few hours later, James Kirk enters the flop. "I couldn't find Beckwith," he says. "I was thinking that maybe we could go for a drink. I mean, we'll be back on the Enterprise after we stop Beckwith and we won't need 20th century currency."

"I did manage to find replacement parts," says Spock. "I have assembled the device."

"So let's scan for images dated around this time," says Kirk.

Spock flips the switch, and an image appears. Pressing the control button, he sees more and more images. Soon they are reading news articles published around 1930.

"Wait, I think we've found Beckwith," he says.

Spock looks and there is a picture of Lieutenant Richard Beckwith, his eyes closed and a swollen bruise on the right side of his head. Above his picture is a picture of Edith Keeler. The two pictures are part of a news article dated a week from today.

**The Star Dispatch**

**Police Still Unable to Identify Man Who Sacrificed Life to Save Social Worker**

**By Elliot Harlan**

**Police have still been unable to identify a man who was killed when he pushed a woman to safety when a truck carrying Budweiser beer was about to hit her.**

**The woman, Edith Keeler, 27, was crossing 21st Street at around 8:00 P.M. to meet with a friend when witnesses say, a man ran towards her and pushed her away from the street. The man was struck by the truck and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.**

**"I was careless," said Keeler, who runs the 21st Street Mission near the scene of the accident. "If he had not pushed me, I might have been the one to die that night."**

**According to Keeler, in a statement she confirmed that she made to the police, she said that the man's name was Richard, and that he spoke with her that morning inside the mission. He had claimed he was a smuggler and killed someone to cover it up. He had also claimed he had been arrested for the crime but escaped custody.**

**"Richard" was a white male with brown hair, about five feet eleven inches, looking to be around his mid-twenties, possibly as old as his early thirties. Authorities in Boston and Philadelphia were provided the man's physical description, but they are unaware of any man with that physical description accused of those crimes who had escaped custody or otherwise fled the jurisdiction.**

**Authorities in Baltimore, Cleveland, and even as far as Chicago and San Francisco have also been contacted, but they had not finished searching for any matches between the description given by Keeler and their list of persons who had escaped custody.**

**The man had been reported to have spoken with a foreign accent, and the British embassy was informed. An embassy official said it could take up to four weeks before British authorities can confirm whether the deceased was a man who had fled British jurisdiction to avoid trial or escaped prison.**

**"There is a family out there who is wondering what happened to their son," said Keeler. "He saved my life, the least I could do is reunite him with his family."**

"Fascinating," says Spock. "The same man can perform acts of savagery and acts of nobility."

"Edith was supposed to die," says Kirk, still looking at the pictures. "She was supposed to die all along. Without Beckwith here, she would get hit by that truck."

"Then the course is clear, Captain. We must stop Beckwith from saving Edith Keeler's life."

"But why?"

"We know Keeler, if she survives, will be involved in next world war. You yourself said that people will die when they should have lived. To return to our reality, we must stop Beckwith."

"It just seems so unfair. I mean, Beckwith's a smuggler who killed someone to avoid prison. Him sacrificing his life for Edith is a hugely fair trade."

"It will keep the Federation from being. It will keep the _Enterprise_ from being. It will keep my families from being."

"And Vulcan. I saw how happy you were during our visit to Vulcan. You wanted to stay there."

"It looked like home, but it wasn't home. My home is not a planet, but wherever my families are. I want to go home."

"We know where Beckwith will be," says Kirk.

Oooooooooo

It is almost 8:00. The evening is not as cold as other evenings were in this time of year. Kirk and Spock keep a watchful eye. Many people are still walking about, dressed in coats. Kirk is filled with apprehension. Could he really let Edith Keeler die? He had not met a woman quite like her. It was so unfair.

_Why, God, why?_ he thinks.

He then sees a truck go around the corner, bearing the Budweiser beer logo.

_This is it._

He looks around, and sees Edith Keeler waving to someone across the street, and then step off the sidewalk. For a second, Jim wonders if their presence here _caused_ Edith to cross the street and get killed. But a second glance reveals that another young woman, clad in a pink coat and hat, was waving back to Edith.

Edith crosses the street.

The Budweiser beer truck approaches.

She walks, oblivious to the truck.

The truck's horn honks.

A man runs from the sidewalk towards Edith.

That man is Richard Beckwith.

Kirk has a phaser in his hand. He is nervous. Tasking down Beckwith will doom Edith.

And then a phaser beam takes down Beckwith and he falls onto the street. Suddenly, there is high-pitched screaming.

Kirk looks at Beckwith, lying unconscious, even as Spock runs towards the fallen fugitive. His peripheral vision picks up a crowd of people; he can not bear to look.

Spock glances, seeing the people gathering around Edith Keeler, including the young woman who had waved to her and persuaded her to cross the street. She looks familiar, she may be a friend of Edith's.

He then looks at Beckwith, checking for life signs. The Starfleet lieutenant is still alive.

_It is unfair. _

Spock looks up and no longer finds himself in Twenty-First Street, but before the Guardian's stone arch. He sees Beckwith arise, still visibly hurt by the stun blast, a bruise on the right side of his face. Kirk is standing a few feet away, feeling empty.

"Captain!" yells Bones. "Are you all right?"

Kirk looks and sees Bones, Lieutenant Hendorff, and the security team, all clad in flak jackets and helmets. "Report," he says.

"Well, we saw the three of you go towards that arch thing," replies Bones "And then there was this wave, and we were engulfed. We thought we would die, but nothing happened, except your clothes changed. That is a really unusually wardrobe changing device. Anyway, are you all right?"

"Not really," Kirk says weekly.

"You have done well," says the Guardian of Forever. "You have made it backl to your own reality. I shall now leave this spacetime. Farewell."

"Wait!" yells Beckwith, realizing what that thing is. "I want to ask…"

The images in the arch disappear. Spock looks at his tricorder.

"No more energy readings," says the first officer. "The Guardian has left our spacetime."

Hendorff approaches Lieutenant Beckwith, grabbing his arm and picking him up.

"Just get me the hell out of here," says Beckwith, all sorts of confused feelings overwhelming him.

"Out of here and back to the brig where you belong," replies the security officer. The two of them are soon beamed back to the orbiting _Enterprise_. The others soon beam away.

"Captain, are you ready?" asks Scotty, speaking from the transporter.

"Just beam me up, Scotty," says Kirk, still drowned in sorrow.


End file.
